Before and After

[Razorhead]

Hello gents,

I found this link online. It shows 127 before and after pictures of guys losing their hair and decided to shave it off.  Maybe there was a longer period of time before some of the before-and-after's, but it seems like a lot of guys decided to shave their heads very early on in their hair loss. While others held out.

I'm curious to know at what point did you decide it was time to shave? Was there a specific moment?

My story is a little different in that I started to shave my head when I had a full of hair. 19 years later, I actually have hair loss with a NW5. From time to time, I will grow my hair out like I am right now, but I can see right through the front to almost half way across the top of my head. I've lost that much density. It will probably be the last time I will be able to grow it.


https://www.menshealth.com/grooming/a33935199/men-baldness-shaved-head-before-after-photos-transformation-baldcafe/

[slybeard]

I also started shaving with a full head of hair - almost.  I had thick and unruly hair - very wavy, but not really curly.  It was too much curl for all the popular hairstyles at the time, but not curly enough for the curly for the curly styles.  I was too chicken to get a perm (yes, guys getting perms were popular then).  I likes shaved heads on guys, but was to chicken to shave it off without the excuse of balding.  I was one of the guys that conformed to the norms of the day, too chicken to do anything the may be considered outside of the norms for a conservative professional man.

So I decided in my early 30's that if I ever started thinning, I would shave it off.  My hair remained thick through my 40's, but I could notice it was thinning (mainly in the crown area) in my mid 40's.  I think I was 49 when I shaved and instantly loved it.  To the public, I still had thick and full hair.  I had no thoughts or desire about growing it back, although I would periodically let it grow a few weeks just to see how the balding had progressed.  By 53 or so, the top was completely bald.  So I completely avoided the bald fringe look by shaving early.

[reddog]

It's still so vivid. Twelve years ago, I had a nice full head of silver hair, but I wanted to try a short haircut. I was in a committed relationship, and she was totally against it. So one morning I got up early and got the clippers out a buzzed my hair to about 1/4 inch. I didn't like it and went to a #2, and didn't like that either. I had a couple friends that were wearing a shaved head that looked good, so I took a razor into the shower and shaved it all! When my honey saw my bald head, she wasn't happy. By the end of the day, she said I should keep it shaved, and she said she liked it. Well, 12 years later, she is long gone, but I still have a shaved head.

[Razorhead]

@slybeard @reddog Sounds like we are in good company. We all embraced being bald and didn't care much for our hair to begin with so it was easy to part with it.

@slybeard It sounds like you shaved very early on in your hair loss but the hair loss happened quick. Would you ever sport a fringe? The idea of a fringe doesn't bother me. One of the surprises about shaving is that I think I do have a nicely shaped head for being bald.

[slybeard]

I despise the fringe look on myself just from letting my hair grow for a couple of weeks.  The one time I did let it grow longer was during the covid lock-downs.  I had planned to let it grow, then go to a barber I liked for a head shave just for the excuse of leaving a large tip, to help him out after being closed.  But as 2 weeks turned into many week, I could not wait and too things into my own hands.  I think I lasted 4 weeks.

No offense for the guys that sport the fringe hairstyle, it is just not for me.  Some I would say even look good with a fringe.  But I think sly bald looks great on all men - even those that don't think they have a good head shape.  There could be exceptions, I just don't know any.

It is interesting that one side of my family has mostly completely bald men, usually at a very young age.  The other side tended to keep their hair.  So with my cousins, it is a mix of bald and full hair.  My older brother still has a full head of hair.

[J_Scott]

I remember being 25 and having a formal job interview. Because I couldn't wear a ballcap, I spent the whole morning carefully combing my hair over and forward, spraying it down with this thickening spray and hairspray, adding in concealer over my bald spot and all over. As I was walking from my car to the building for the interview, several large gusts of wind managed to dislodge and lift my combover up and blow it apart. I tried to keep it together until I found a bathroom, only to realize I had concealer all over my hands. I then finally decided that it was over, and buzzed my head down completely the next day. Within a few months I bought a new razor and took it down to the skin.